Drop ceilings are ubiquitous for very good reasons. They allow piping and wiring to easily run from room to room without being seen. They allow pipes and wiring to be worked on, installed, or retrofitted without cutting into a building's structural walls or ceilings. Their tiles are light and easy to move when the piping and wiring need to be accessed. Examples of drop ceilings may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,019,300; 5,979,134; and 8,079,192.
There is one significant drawback, though. The ceiling tiles are held by drop ceiling tracks hung from hangar wires. Typical drop ceiling tracks have an inverted-T-shaped cross section, comprising an upstanding web and generally horizontal flanges extending from the web's base. Due to tiles' light weight, neither the ceiling tracks nor the hangar wires are constructed with the capability to bear much weight. Although this is a significant advantage for working with drop ceilings, the lack of weight capacity makes it difficult to hang anything from a drop ceiling. There is a need for drop ceilings to bear heavier items and implements.